The large vacant lot at 15 William Street across Beaver Street from Delmonico's Restaurant has been recently acquired from the Manocherian family by SDS Investments, a real estate fund of which Tamir and Alex Sapir and S. Lawrence Davis are principals for about $90 million.

The Manocherians, prominent New York City developers whose projects include the Caroline at 58-74 West 23rd Street, had planned a 38-story rental tower with about 345 apartments with a 100-car garage.

Mr. Davis told CityRealty.Com today that SDS plans a taller tower, perhaps 48 to 49 stories, with about 300 condominium apartments. He said that SCLE, which had designed the rental tower for the Manocherians, will be the project architect for the condominium tower.

The site is on the same block at 15 Broad Street, which Swig Equities recently said it was converted to condominium apartments.

Mr. Davis said that construction should start next spring and be completed in the fall of 2007.

In the Manocherian plan, about 15 percent of the apartments in the project were to used for moderate-income residents in the building and the project was also supposed to create "affordable" housing off site as well. Mr. Davis said the project does not involve such units.

Tamir Sapir is a Russian ?gr?ho came to the United States in 1975 and is a former taxicab drive who eventually invested in a small electronics store and then bartered electronics to Soviet enterprises in exchange for oil contracts and then began buying real estate in Manhattan starting with the $2.3 million purchase in the early 1990s of a 20-story building at 80 John Street, which was followed in 1995 with the purchase of 2 Broadway, a 1.6-million-sq.ft. office building for about $20.5 million.

Last year, his organization acquired Eleven Madison Avenue, the 2.3 million sq.ft., 29-story office tower that was originally planned to be about 100 stories and which can support such an expansion. The Sapirs also own 260 and 261 Madison Avenue.